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Silent Moves announces its Ignite tour

Silent Moves by Aideen Barry and the artists of Western Care’s Ridgepool Training Centre, Scannán Technologies and presented by Ballina Arts Centre has been awarded a touring award from Ignite.

Silent Moves will tour to; Town Hall Theatre, Galway, Triskel Arts Centre, Cork (as part of Cork Film Festival) and the Irish Film Institute, Dublin in autumn of this year.

Inspired by the classic black and white silent films of Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, Silent Moves is a 28 minute silent film, with a strong emphasis on movement and mime. Using stop-motion animation techniques and slapstick motifs, the film has a unique aesthetic and is accompanied by an inspired live soundtrack.

Visual artist Aideen Barry collaborated with a group of twenty three artists with disabilities from two Western Care projects based in Ballina – the Ridgepool Training Centre and Scannán Technologies. Working alongside Aideen was renowned Dancer and Choreographer, Emma O’Kane. Shot on location in Ballina, the film carries a strong message about attitudes towards disability while being funny, moving and beautiful to watch. The film was launched last November at Ballina Arts Centre in front of a huge audience, and was shown a number of times during February of this year.

Screenings of the film on the tour will be accompanied by musicians performing the soundtrack on piano, violin, viola and percussion. In each location there will be two screenings: a matinee targeted at schools and community groups and an evening show open to the general public.

As an integral part of the tour, in each location a ‘Meet the Makers’ style session will be hosted, featuring some of the participating artists from the project, alongside representatives from Ballina Arts Centre and Mayo County Council Arts office introduce the screening and talk about their Ignite experiences.

Sean Walsh, Director of Ballina Arts Centre, said: “We were absolutely delighted when we got word that the funding application was successful. The film is a magical piece of work, and it certainly deserves to be seen around the country. I’m thrilled for the makers of the film, and the way the tour is set up, they will have a chance to go with the film and present their work to audiences across the country.”

Silent Moves was commissioned by Mayo County Council as part of Ignite.

Ignite is managed by a unique partnership involving the Arts Council, Arts & Disability Ireland (ADI), Cork City Council, Galway City and County Councils, and Mayo County Council.

Ignite is a new platform designed to generate Ireland’s most ambitious showcasing of talent from people with disabilities, led by international and Irish artists and performers with disabilities, with projects taking place in 2014 and 2015 in Cork, Galway and Mayo. These commissions each represented an investment of up to €60,000. This Silent Moves tour will mark the conclusion of this initiative in November 2015.